Gift of RA

Thanksgiving has come and gone, suddenly Christmas isn’t very far away – where did the time go?  I have been focusing on my radio show and whether I will have a sponsor to continue.  So far, the Calvary hasn’t come to the rescue and I am doing okay knowing the last show is at the end of December.  Not sure how it will be on the day, but I spent time deciding I was willing to let it go, not easy and I have been a drippy mess at times.   It has taken a while to truly be wholehearted about it – may still be a few pockets of “I don’t want to let it go” but on the whole, doing pretty well.

As a result of the show and all I have learned over the years, I found myself writing a book.  I am using things from the show, other things from my blog, things I have written to put in it.  I will work on the book after my show is over and one day want to come back and do it again.  It means I will have more time to work on the book and see where it goes.  I have had positive feedback about the book and also for the radio show.  That is very gratifying.

We had planned to have a quiet Thanksgiving by ourselves because on Tuesday morning, Eddie had his left eye done for cataract surgery.  That is the worst one – on Dec. 5th he will have the right eye done.  He was ready to have it done, though I am sure he was a bit apprehensive about it – he isn’t big on surgery or doctors.  We went early in the morning – seems the prep takes longer than the surgery.  They gave him all kinds of eye drops, had him lie down for half an hour and then the surgery only took about 10 minutes.

He is not supposed to drive for a week, so I drove home and then the next morning back for them to check him out.  Eddie said he couldn’t see anything out of the eye, but it slowly got better – big floaters for quite a while.  When we came home, he had breakfast because he couldn’t have anything after midnight.  No computer or reading, he could watch tv.  Next thing I know, he is fast asleep for 4 or 5 hours.  As his eyes are healing, he can see a lot better, but reading and computer aren’t all that comfortable.

We had an invitation to Thanksgiving dinner at Mike Lombardi’s house.  He is the Boeing historian and Eddie volunteers at the archives with him. they have become close friends and we were pleased at the invitation.  He and his wife Carla, their son Tony and his wife and son and Carla’s parents.  It was a lovely time  – we felt part of the family.  A lot of food for 8 1/2 people, it was delicious and we enjoyed ourselves.  I drove over – it was daylight so it made it easier.  It was dark when we left and I missed the entrance for 167, we went the scenic route home.

Friday I got my hair cut, we went to Eddie’s barber but he was closed and then we went shopping.  Eddie is a front seat driver, he isn’t used to being driven and he is frustrated about not driving.  He now has an idea of what it is often like for me – though he may not admit it.  Yesterday he decided to drive to the barber, bank and BECU – he was gone what seemed a long time and I was a bit uneasy.  He finally came home and it went well for him.  I could relax again.

He worries about me when I go places, yet he doesn’t see the same correlation when he goes out and I worry about him.  Maybe he thinks because of RA, I am more likely to have problems – well, in some ways that’s true.  I don’t look for it, but somehow my car seems have a target painted on it.  And I am not all that steady on my feet at times and I do a face plant once in a while.  Fortunately he doesn’t know all the times I did it when I was alone.  He may figure he is more stable and can take care of himself, so there is no need to worry.

Now that we on are on standard time, it seems dark a lot more.  I saw something that showed 4:29 as all daylight, 4:30 is pitch dark.  We have been having a lot of rain – one would never know it today.  This morning it was sun and blue sky, now it is dark, cloudy, windy and pouring.  This is Seattle after all.  I would rather have rain than snow – they can keep it up in the mountains.  The mountains all over here are gorgeous with snow right now.

Would you believe we have snow?  Friday morning it came down in think flakes and covered the ground with about an inch or two of snow.  All this the 3rd of November – so many people saying it is too early to snow.  We were not sure we were going to go to the MOHAI Gala that night – going up and down hills and if it becomes slushy, it would freeze and be ice.  So we were a bit anxious to see what the weather would do.  Mike Lombardi, the Boeing Historian is a trustee for MOHAI and has a table for Boeing every year.  This was to be our third year and it is fun to go and always happy to see Mike and Carla.  Eddie sees Mike every Wednesday morning at the archives.

It stopped snowing and then a lot of it melted – more on the grass than the pavement.  Eddie decided we were going and we bundled up because it was cold.  The last 2 years we were stuck in traffic downtown, this year we tried a different route.  We took the viaduct and turned on Roy St. – just after Mercer St. and we had very little trouble with traffic.  We did so well, we were there before they opened the lot for cars.  We always end being early, even when we are late.  One of the good things is the museum is open, Eddie and I decided to go wander around upstairs.  They have a whole new building at the south end of Lake Union – quite a place..

It used to be the old armory, so glad they didn’t tear it down for some hideous modern monstrosity.  It is right on the water and  next door to the Center For Wooden Boats to the right.

They also provide  valet parking – Eddie doesn’t really like other people driving the car.  But it worked out fine.  We were there when they opened, I wasn’t sure how long I could walk because my legs have been difficult the past few weeks.  I’m glad we went around a bit – some things are familiar but so much is new.  I almost feel way out of step.  I don’t know how else to term it.

Then we went to the back room to see what they had for the silent auction.  Lots of wine there as well as for the live auction – we aren’t drinkers so it wasn’t of interest.  We went to our table – at least I did because my legs told me in no uncertain terms to “SIT DOWN!!!!!”.  That was fine because they were passing appetizers and we didn’t miss out.  However, I didn’t have the beef kabob because it had lots of cracked pepper – even a bit too much for Eddie.

They have a huge atrium where they set up the tables – normally it doesn’t have much in it.

This is the first United Airlines plane from Boeing that carried the mail.  Just to the left a bit under the wing is Slo Mo IV.  this shows only half of the atrium, it is quite wide.

There is a tree at the other end by the elevator, you can walk around inside in a spiral.  Almost looks like the necks of bottles – not sure what it is.

They also had some raw spring rolls that I enjoyed and some sushi – also good.  I would not have thought to pair bacon and dates together, but they were delicious.  Eddie had 2 or 3, something I didn’t expect.  People watching is always fun and interesting – black tie was optional.    There were two raffles – for $100 you can pick any of the live auction prizes, for $50 you could win a year of dining at 12 restaurants.

This is how they set it up for private events.

Everyone started to arrive and they served dinner – I chose the beef short ribs while Eddie went vegetarian – his turned out to be spicy hot.  Glad I didn’t chose that one.  While we were eating, they started the live auction – this place has a lot of dedicated members, trustees and donors, so by the end of the evening they had raised $450,000.  They use it for the kids and people are very, very generous.  I have to admit, after all the bidding and all those numbers, it was getting to me – I tend to like more peace and quiet.  We had fun and we left around 9 or after – just took forever for them to bring the car.  It was damn cold out, though they had a tent with a gas heater which helped.  However, my legs shouted at me after a while so I had to sit down.  I figured if I sat down, the car would come sooner than if I stood all the time.  We made it home with no problem.

Saturday it snowed off and on but not enough to stick.  It poured all night last night and now we have snow on the ground again.  This weekend has had the craziest weather.  Wonder what kind of winter it will be.  Is it getting snow out of its system now or just warming up for several main events?  We turned the clocks back and it is dark as pocket.  We even had a rainbow in front of us – Nature does such amazing things.